The cloud computing environment is an enhancement to the predecessor grid environment, whereby multiple grids and other computation resources may be further abstracted by a cloud layer, thus making disparate devices appear to an end-user as a single pool of seamless resources. These resources may include such things as physical or logical compute engines, servers and devices, device memory, and storage devices.
Under a cloud computing environment, licenses play an integral role in obtaining software/services. As known, licensing can involve complex issues. For example, from a service provider's perspective the decision whether to purchase an enterprise license can play an integral role in customer growth planning. From a customer's perspective the decision on price and duration of licenses can play an integral role in overall business and cash flow planning (among other areas). Currently, limitations exist for methods to accurately gauge the needs of providers and potential customers, match customers to the most appropriate providers, and fine tune license scenarios/configurations to best fit both parties' needs.